The exiting traders are directors Jonathan Pope, who traded currencies including the South African rand, and Michael Ford, who specialized in the euro. Pope is thought to be joining J.P. Morgan and Rand’s destination is unknown. Also exiting this month was Peter Melichar, a CLO banker who’s off to become head of European CLO origination at Jefferies. Bloomberg says that, ‘more than a dozen employees’ have left Deutsche in the run up to the strategy review, to be announced in June. This doesn’t sound much like the predicted outpouring of staff. “Our staff turnover rate is in line with previous years and the industry average,” a spokesman for Deutsche insisted.

Separately, senior M&A bankers have ways of making people do deals. Michael Cameron, chief executive of Australian financial services group Suncorp, complained to the Australian Financial Review that he’s no fan of growth by acquisition after witnessing the tactics M&A bankers use to make deals take place. ‘On one occasion a banker told him the CEO of a rival company was keen to talk about a deal,’ says AFR. ‘When Cameron eventually met the rival CEO they figured out they were both in the meeting on false pretences.’

Meanwhile:

Bank of America’s fixed income trading revenues fell 6.8% in the first quarter. However, FX trading revenues doubled as the bank made the most of ‘frenzied trading’ in the Swiss franc in January. (Reuters)

Brady Dougan’s advice to young bankers: “Take advantage of opportunities; try to be very open to new opportunities; try to find new opportunities. This industry is constantly recreating itself. If you look at the people who’ve done really well in the industry over time, a lot of them started off by getting into an area that was small – was just at its very beginnings – and really developed and grew it.” (Business Insider)